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ChinaThe second highest-ranking general and eight other senior officials have been expelled from the ruling Communist Party And the army is suspected of serious misconduct linked to corruption, the Defense Ministry said on Friday.
He Weidong, who was vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission, is the most senior official targeted so far in the ongoing anti-corruption campaign against Chinese military leaders.
Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said in a statement posted online that the nine officials are suspected of serious crimes involving exceptionally large sums of money.
Mr. Zhang said their cases had been investigated and referred to military prosecutors for review and prosecution.
Government anti-corruption campaign has become the Chinese leader’s signature policy Xi Jinping Thousands of officials have been ousted since he came to power in 2012, including high-profile political rivals.
Mr Singh, who was promoted to the Central Military Commission in 2022, has not been seen in public for months – often the first sign that an officer is in trouble. The announcement on Friday was the first confirmation of what happened to him.
He was also one of its 24 members politburoThe second largest Communist Party body after the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee.
He was formerly head of the Eastern Theater Command, which has primary responsibility for operations at the commencement of hostilities against Taiwan.
The eight other dismissed officials include Miao Hua, director of the political work department of the Central Military Commission, who was placed under investigation last November.
The commission, headed by Mr Xi, is China’s top military body.
“The crimes were of a serious nature, with extremely damaging consequences,” Mr Zhang said. He did not provide details of the alleged crimes.
The announcement comes just days before a major meeting of the party’s Central Committee Beijing To prepare a blueprint of the country’s goals for the next five years.
Of the nine military leaders removed on Friday, eight were Central Committee members.
High-ranking officials hold a high position in Chinese politics and can enjoy extensive privileges, both official and unofficial.
Analysts say the anti-corruption campaign, which is popular among the public, has also been used to enforce loyalty to Mr Xi among party and government officials.
In June last year, China announced that former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe had been expelled from the Communist Party on corruption charges.